A Cold December Night
by Honeywell
Summary: How Elwood and Jake met, and possibly how they discovered the blues. The Formerly Blank Reviewer's premier!


Formerly Blank Reviewer here! From here on, I reclaim my former penname of Honeywell. Any Monkees fans will know what this comes from. ;) This is my first Blues Brothers fic though it's pretty much my take of how Jake and Elwood according to "Blues Brothers Private."   
  
It's been a while since I've written fanfic so please tell me what needs to be fixed, etc. I have no idea if this is going to go anywhere so ideas and suggestions are welcomed and encouraged! Enjoy!  
  
Oh, and I don't own the Blues Brothers, yadda yadda, and this story is the property of me. copyright 2003. *)))   
  
December 9, 1953  
  
"Hey lady, wait!" Peter Torokvey called out. "You forgot your...!" He stopped in mid-sentence as it dawned on him that the woman in the black car wasn't coming back after speeding off into the snow-covered streets of Chicago's Southside. He looked down at the infant in his hands, going over what the hell had just happened; a woman wearing a dark hat and sunglasses had pulled up to his newsstand a few moments ago in a black car, asking for a copy of the late edition. Okay, nothing weird about that. I work at a newsstand for Chrissakes, thought Torokvey. But as Torokvey handed the paper to the woman, she in turn handed him the baby she held in her arms before speeding away. She didn't even pay the ten cents she owed him for the paper!  
  
What was he supposed to do now? Torokvey didn't get a chance to really catch the make of the car or even who was inside. Was the lady even driving or was someone else in there? Torokvey had no idea; he usually didn't pay attention to those sorts of things. Hand them the newspaper and take the money, that's all you're supposed to do. Not baby-sit their kids, Torokvey muttered under his breath. Well, at least he's asleep.  
  
Torokvey ended up calling the police moments later and by eight o'clock that evening the baby was in the arms of Sister Mary Stigmata at the Saint Helen of the Blessed Shroud Orphanage. The police and the Department of Child Welfare agreed that the baby would be best off in an orphanage known for teaching its boys good values and how to live honest lives.  
  
St. Helen of the Blessed Shroud was an old brick building near the off ramp to Calumet City, just south of Chicago. It was on a cruddy little street surrounded by cruddy little warehouses and apartments. The whole area was relatively industrial and smoggy; not really the best place for raising children. The building originally belonged to a Mr. Nick O'Banion, a twine and string entrepreneur who left the building to the Catholic Church in 1923 to be a home for boys.   
  
Sister Mary sighed sadly as she looked at the slumbering infant she was holding. It always troubled her when another boy was brought into her care; it meant that he had no other family in the world to take care of him, to love him, to listen to him. That's why God put us here, Sister Mary and the other nuns thought. It was their mission in life to be the family these boys would otherwise never have.  
  
The Sister named the baby Elwood Delaney. Elwood because "E" is the fifth letter of the alphabet and this was the fifth foundling to find its way into St. Helen's, and Delaney for Officer Mike Delaney, the cop that delivered Elwood to the orphanage just a few hours ago.  
  
Sister Mary carried Elwood upstairs to the dormitory where another baby, Jake Papageorge, was already tucked in for the night. Jake was brought in over a year ago when his mother, convicted murderess Artesia Papageorge, died giving birth to him one hot July day at the Dwight Correctional Facility. The identity of Jake's father was never learned and Artesia had no other family so like Elwood, he was brought into the care of the nuns at St. Helen's.  
  
"Looks like you have a new bunkmate, Jake," said Sister Mary in that patronizing tone adults always tended to use around young children. "This is Elwood. He's going to be staying with us from now on. I'm sure you two will get along famously." she added laying Elwood down next to Jake in the rickety old wooden crib. It was long past Jake's bedtime but for some reason or another he was wide awake which really wasn't unusual for him.  
  
The dormitory was empty after Sister Mary left. The only lights were the bright orange ones from the streetlights outside. Jake cuddled up a bit to young Elwood as though they had always shared that crib, as though they were brothers. 


End file.
